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Your B.C. Government

Economic Growth

Your B.C. Government is focused on initiatives that help to build B.C.’s economy. A strong economy is essential to building a healthy, vibrant society and creating the revenue needed to pay for important social programs like health care and education.

What your B.C. Government is doing for Economic Growth:

  • Creating a competitive business environment is essential to economic growth. That is why the Province has made more than 120 tax cuts since 2001. 
  • As a result of tax reduction measures introduced since 2001 and further budgeted tax cuts, B.C. now has among the lowest corporate income tax rates of the world's major industrialized economies.
  • B.C.’s HST will lower tax on new investment by 40 per cent, creating jobs and new opportunities in every region of the Province.
  • British Columbia will also have the lowest provincial personal income tax rates in the country for people earning up to $118,000 a year.
  • Your B.C. Government has removed more than 152,000 needless regulations since 2001, a reduction of over 42 per cent.
  • B.C. and Alberta signed the groundbreaking bilateral Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) in April 2006. TILMA came into effect on April 1, 2007 and was fully implemented on April 1, 2009.
  • TILMA creates the second-largest economy in Canada, with a combined B.C.-Alberta market of almost 7.8 million people, 30 per cent larger than Quebec.
  • It is estimated that TILMA will add $4.8 billion to real GDP and create 78,000 new jobs in B.C. alone.
  • Your B.C. Government also won the right to host the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which are expected to generate up to $4 billion in economic activity. When you include the convention centre expansion, the resulting economic activity climbs to $10.7 billion.
  • As part of your B.C. Government's response to the economic crisis, the province provided over $425 million in tax relief and support for B.C. families, businesses and individuals over the next three years. Measures included:
    • By making our five per cent personal income tax cut on the first $70,000 income retroactive to January 1, 2008, we are providing tax relief by putting an additional $144 million back into taxpayers' pockets. 
    • The Province also accelerated tax cuts for small businesses, reducing the rate to 2.5 per cent. This is a 44 per cent tax cut in just one year and will inject an additional $401 million over the next three years back into small businesses across B.C.
    • In partnership with other levels of government, British Columbia’s capital construction plan could create up to 88,000 jobs over three years.  Since February 2009, some 480 projects worth $3.4 billion have been announced.  The projects approved to date are expected to create 21,600 jobs over three years.
    • The environmental assessment review process, including consultations with the public and First Nations, on the proposed Northwest Transmission Line Project along Highway 37 is underway. The proposed power line has the potential to generate or support billions of dollars in capital investment, create thousands of new jobs, open economic opportunities on a global scale in the Northwest, and get remote communities off of diesel-electric power.
    • To help B.C.'s crucial industries remain competitive the Province introduced a 50 per cent provincial industrial property tax credit for major and light industry. This tax credit will be increased to 60 per cent in 2011.
    • The Province also brought together stakeholders at two Economic Summits, one in Prince George and one in Vancouver, in order to look at ways to capitalize on economic opportunities.
  • B.C.'s economy has outperformed the national economy for six out of the past seven years.
  • The Conference Board of Canada has forecast that B.C. will lead Canada in economic growth in 2010.
  • Your B.C. Government has paid down the Province's operating debt by $9.2 billion since 2003/04.  Due to the Province's prudent fiscal management, B.C.'s credit rating has been upgraded seven times since 2001, and B.C. now enjoys a AAA credit rating, the highest possible.

For More Information:
B.C. Economic Indicators